By Robert Morales —
(L):
David Massey, Michael Davis, Lyndon McDonald, James Gregory (American
Talc), Buddy Davis, Emilio Yglesias , Efrain Hinojos. American Talc made
a contribution to the Volunteer Fire Department of the following items:
3 drip torches, 3 fire axes, 3 pike poles, safety vests, 1 17-inch quad
spack nozzle and a 21/2-inch adjustable nozzle. Photo courtesy Michelle
Massey
For whatever reason, fire departments — even in the large cities — tend to be forgotten. That is, until a tragedy strikes.
The situation becomes more dire in a small town such as Van Horn
because firefighters volunteeers their time to what they believe is a
worthy cause. Regardless of the time of day, our volunteer firefighters
are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
As for resources, large city fire department departments have a
budget which has been earmarked by the city manager or the mayor.
That is not the case in a small-town environment such as Van Horn.
Volunteer fire departments such as ours have to improvise when funds are
not available to fund even the simplest of equipment.
That's where James Gregory from American Talc comes into the picture. He told the Adovcate recently that he really didn't want any publicity about donating some
items to our local fire department because he said it was the right
thing to do.
In an interview with the Advocate, he said that he admired one of his employees, David Massey, for being a team member of the Van Horn Fire Department.
“I think that sometimes, we as citizens of this town, we take our
fire department for granted,”said Mr. Gregory. “That's when I got to
thinking about the 19 firefighters that lost their lives earlier this
year fighting fires in Arizona.”
Mr. Gregory decided that not only would American Talc benefit from a
donation to the department in case of an emergency, but so would the
entire service area.
American Talc donated several items to the department in an effort to
keep our firefighters equipped with the most modern items used to fight
fires. (See photo above).
“All of the firemen from the Van Horn Fire Deparment are extremely
appreciative and would like to thank American Talc for this donation,”
said Firefighter Lyndon McDonald. “This equipment is greatly needed and
will be an extreme asset to our fire department.”